The Arms of a Mother
by Alcoholic Semen Thrower
Summary: "Because a mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them." Victor Hugo
1. Hugo

_Meet me at Honeydukes at two. _Is what Hermione had told her before she Apparated to Diagon Alley. With the holidays just around the corner, everyone seemed to be doing his or her Christmas shopping, which is why Molly had offered to take little Hugo for the day. She loved spending time with her grandkids. It gave her a sense that she was wanted. Ever since her kids had moved out, it seemed as if she wasn't needed.

"Are you ready to go see mummy, Hugo?" Molly asked as she wrapped the baby boy into one of his big winter coats. When she heard Hugo happily giggle, she picked him up, set him on her hip and walked towards the fireplace (only because Apparating wasn't recommended for kids under the age of one). Throwing down enough floo powder for two people, Molly clearly pronounced, "Honeydukes." And immediately felt the familiar rush of the floo network. Once inside the lively store, she walked outside where there weren't as many people and took a seat at an open table. Setting Hugo on her lap and resting the nappy bag down onto the table, Molly sighed in contentment. She hadn't realized how much she had missed being a mother until she had gotten little Hugo that morning and it only intensified as she thought back to when she would wait for Arthur at that exact sweet shop while he got off of work. Hearing a stifled cry, Molly pulled herself out of her thoughts and looked down at her grandson, a worried expression written on her face.

"What's wrong, love?" she asked as she watched Hugo rest his hand against his cheek and rub it. "Are you hungry?" she added when she realized that Hugo was trying to tell her that he was hungry. Reaching into the nappy bag that she set down on the table, she pulled out a bottle, set a warming charm on it and handed it to the boy sitting on her lap.

When Hugo wrapped his tiny hands around the bottle and brought it to his mouth, she softly rubbed his cheek with her thumb, realizing how much of her own son was reflected in _his _son. It was an amazing thing to have grandchildren. She was able to enjoy a few hours with a baby without having to take care of it fulltime. What more could a mother of seven ask for?

Feeling a soft tug on her blouse, Molly, again, looked down at her sleepy five-month old grandson and smiled as he started to snuggle into her. Seeing him loose grip of the bottle he had been using, she took it out of his hand and set it down on the table, happy that he was taking his nap on time. Within seconds, she felt the soft breathing that came along with falling asleep. The thing that Molly didn't know, though, was that Hermione was only a few feet away from her, watching the two of them bond. She didn't want to interrupt them. Watching the Weasley matriarch put her baby boy to sleep, one of the things she was best at, gave Hermione a sense of accomplishment, though she wasn't quite sure why. She contributed it to the fact that watching Hugo do as he was suppose to made her feel like she couldn't have gotten Molly any better of a Christmas present.

Taking out her camera, Hermione was happy that she was standing a few feet away from Molly, she wanted to get a picture of Hugo nestled into his grandmother, something she knew both her and Molly would enjoy. Pressing the button, the flash went off and Molly (plus a few other people) turned around. Making eye contact with each other, both women started to laugh, knowing that when the picture was developed, they would get a good laugh out of it.

"Sorry I'm late, Molly. The lines were longer then I thought they were going to be," Hermione said after her bout of laughter as she walked to the table and sat down across from her mother-in-law. "And you wouldn't mind if we stayed here for a little bit longer, would you? I don't want to wake the little one up," she added, an apologetic smile flickering across her face.

"Of course not, dear," Molly replied as she looked down at her grandson, the smile on her face never fading. She couldn't have asked for an easier child to baby-sit. It was as if she had Ron again.

"How'd you get him to fall asleep, anyways?" Hermione asked after a minute or two of silence. "I've never seen someone put a child to sleep as easily as you just did."

"I honestly didn't do anything," Molly chuckled. "I just gave him his bottle and next thing I knew, he was snuggled into me sleeping like an angel."

"No, I just think you have the arms of a mother," Hermione replied as she gave Molly a tender smile.

"What? No, dear, I seriously doubt that," Molly replied with a chuckle.

But, really, Hugo _did_ fall asleep due to Molly's 'arms of a mother.'

Because a mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.

* * *

Thank you to the amazing beta Darksaber3434, who also gets a bit of credit for giving me the title we both thought of.

&& check out my poll, please.

Oh & please don't favorite without reviewing!


	2. Lily Luna

_Nana,_

_I was wondering if you wanted to go school shopping with us? Knowing Mum and Dad, they'll get distracted and I'm going to need help keeping them focused. Plus, I think they would enjoy some extra help with Albus and Lily._

_James_

Reading the letter that had been flown into the Burrow a mere few minutes before, Molly couldn't help but to chuckle. She really did love the fact that James always included his grandparents in everything. It made her feel wanted, something she didn't feel to often anymore.

"Arthur?" Molly called happily as she walked into the living room where her husband of forty-seven years was sitting. "James just asked if we wanted to go school shopping with him. Do you wanna go?" she added when Arthur looked up at her from that days 'Daily Prophet'.

"You can go, dear. I think I'm gonna to stay home," Arthur replied, a smile flickering across his face.

"You sure?" Molly asked as she walked the rest of the distance between her and her husband, sitting down on his lap once she was standing in front of him.

"I'm sure, darling. And, plus, it's always nice to have some time alone," he replied as he winked at Molly, a smirk taking place of his smile.

"Arthur Septimus Weasley!" Molly squealed. "You're a dirty man!" she added as she stood up and pointed at the Weasley patriarch, getting a laugh from Arthur in response.

"You love me nonetheless, though," Arthur replied as he wrapped his arm around Molly's waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Of course, my darling, how could I not?" Molly said in between kisses, a slight curve appearing on her lips. Pulling away from the kiss, her smile grew even wider, knowing that she couldn't have gotten any luckier to have Arthur as her husband.

"You're beautiful," Arthur commented as he looked lovingly at his wife, a smile also appearing on his face.

"I know," Molly teased as she kissed her husband's cheek.

"I really _do_ love you, Mollywobbles," Arthur teased as he looked down at his wristwatch. "But you should probably get going. I'm guessing they don't want to spend all day at Diagon Alley," he added with a smirk.

"I know, I know," Molly replied as she glared teasingly at Arthur. She then pulled her wand out and Accioed her jacket out of the closet. "Goodbye, love," she said when she had her winter coat in her hand. "I'll see you later."

"You're not going to give me a good-bye kiss?" Arthur whimpered as he gave his wife puppy eyes.

"Fine, if it makes you happy!" Molly said dejectedly. She, obviously, didn't mind giving her husband a kiss. She was actually quite happy to give him one. "I love you, dear," she added once she bent down and softly pecked Arthur's lips.

"I love you too," Arthur replied happily, giving his wife a kiss back. Putting her coat on, Molly stepped away from the couch her husband was sitting on and Disapparated, soon after arriving at Diagon Alley.

"Nana!" Molly heard her grandson yell. Turning around, she noticed James rush towards her.

"James!" Molly responded as she beamed happily at the eldest Potter son.

Feeling James wrap his arms around her abdomen, she gave her grandson a well-known Molly Weasley hug.

"Where's grandpa Arthur?" James asked as he pulled away from his grandmother and looked around for Arthur.

"He decided to stay home," Molly replied with a chuckle. She knew that James wanted Arthur to come but there was no way in hell that Molly was going to argue with 'it's always nice to have some time alone.' "Where are your mum and dad, dear?" she added as she started to look around for her daughter.

"They're right there, Nana," James replied as he pointed to Ginny and Harry, who were now walking towards them. With seven-year-old Albus trailing behind, Ginny (who was holding three-year-old Lily) and Harry closed the distance between them.

"I'm glad you came today, Mum," Ginny happily sighed as she gave Molly a hug. As many times as she had gone Hogwarts shopping with her family, she wanted to have guidance from an expert.

"Yeah, we're going to need all the help we can get," Harry added as he waited for Ginny to move out of the way so he could also give Molly a hug.

"Well, I'm glad I can help," Molly replied as she gave Harry one of her big bear hugs.

Hearing Lily cough quietly, Ginny looked down worriedly at her youngest child.

"Do you think she's getting a cold?" she asked as she looked at her mum, who was also looking at Lily. "She's been coughing all day."

Ginny already knew the answer, as this wasn't the first cold one of her kids had endured.

"She might be, does she have a fever?" Molly replied as she rested her hand on Lily's forehead. "She's running a fever, she has a cold," she added as she nodded her head in agreement.

"Can you take her for the day? I don't wanna have to deal with her while we shop for Hogwarts supplies," Ginny replied hopefully. She could always remember how horrible it was to go shopping for her brother's school supplies while she was sick.

"I'd love too," Molly replied as she took Lily into her own arms. "You have a blanket or something to wrap her in, right?" she added, knowing that a fever meant your body was trying to fight off sickness.

"Yeah, why?" Ginny asked as she pulled out a blanket from the nappy bag she was holding.

"Because when you have a fever, your body is trying to fight off any sickness you may have and wrapping yourself in something warm helps it go down," Molly replied as she wrapped the blanket around Lily.

"Times like these are when I'm glad you were training to be a healer," Ginny said as she gave her mum the best hug she could give (with Lily lying against her chest, it was hard to give her a proper hug).

"I told you they would need some extra help," James chuckled.

"That you did, my dear," Molly laughed as she kissed the top of James head. Moving Lily so she was resting higher on her chest, she turned her attention back to Ginny and said, "So I'll meet you at one of the cafes when you're done?"

"Perfect!" Ginny replied as she softly kissed her mother's cheek.

"Thank you, Molly," Harry added as he also kissed his mother-in-law's cheek.

"You're welcome, dear," Molly replied with a smile.

As everyone separated, Molly looked down at Lily and couldn't help but to notice how pale she was. She really wasn't too worried, though, because she knew paleness came with being sick.

Finding the nearest café, Molly sat down and set the three-year-old Lily on her lap, who gave a soft smile in response.

"Are you feeling better, darling?" Molly asked as she smiled back. Noticing that there was snot running down her nose, she took a napkin from the table and softly wiped it away, getting a soft whimper from Lily in response. "What's wrong, Lily?" she asked as she noticed tears form in her granddaughter's eyes. Feeling that it was in her power to cheer the little girl up, she did everything from making weird faces to telling stories. But none of them seemed to work.

"You need to cheer up, Lily," she finally said as she gave up on trying to make her granddaughter happy. Looking around, she couldn't help but to notice a familiar head turn towards her.

"Is that you, Molly?" Andromeda Tonks asked as she smiled happily at Molly.

"Andromeda?" Molly smiled, "Merlin's beard, it's been ages since we last saw each other!"

"I know!" Andromeda said as she looked at the little girl sitting on Molly's lap. "You had another one? Last time I checked you were at five!" she added teasingly as she stood up and walked towards Molly. She knew Molly had managed to have seven kids but she loved teasing her for it, anyways.

"I'm way too old to be having kids! This is my granddaughter," Molly laughed. "And I'm at seven now," she added teasingly, knowing that Andromeda was joking.

"Wait, is that Lily?" Andromeda asked, taking a closer look at the little girl sitting on Molly's lap, who was now cuddled up close to her grandmother.

"Yeah, this is Lily," Molly replied, quizzically. "Why?" she asked. Molly wasn't quite sure why Andromeda was asking if the little girl was Lily, as Ginny and Harry where her grandson's godparents.

"Merlin, she's grown!" Andromeda said, obviously in awe. "I haven't seen her in close to a month!"

"Well, that tends to happen, dear," Molly teased, getting a glare from Andromeda in response.

"I know, I know," Andromeda replied. "It's just crazy how fast kids grow-up," she sighed, feeling a bit nostalgic. "Though, she's just as beautiful as her mum _and _grandmum," she added as she forced a smile to appear on her face. She, herself, was a grandmother, just like Molly. But the difference between her and Molly was that all of Molly's kids were alive, minus Fred.

"Thank you, darling," Molly replied, a smile coming across her face. Looking down at her granddaughter, she realized that Lily had cuddled up close to her and fallen asleep. "Thank Merlin, she's asleep," she said, her smile widening.

"Bloody hell, Molly, how'd you manage to do that?" Andromeda asked. "Only a few minutes ago you were having problems getting her to stop crying."

"I didn't do anything," Molly laughed. "I was talking to you the whole time, she fell asleep on her own."

"I don't believe that," Andromeda replied. "You just have the arms of a mother," she added as she genuinely smiled at Molly.

"You always manage to find something nice to say," Molly said, not quite sure if Andromeda meant what she said.

But it really was because Molly had the arms of a mother. And a mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.


	3. Rose

Having just given birth to a little girl, Hermione wanted to have some one-on-one time with Molly. She was in need of some advice for raising a girl. Though, for the first few months, she knew she wouldn't need it because taking care of a baby, weather it was a boy or girl, didn't require a lot of experience.

Hearing the familiar sound of the Floo Network, Hermione rushed into the room with a crying Rose.

"Molly, Arthur," Hermione breathed. "I'm so glad you're here!" she said as moved Rose from one arm to the other and hugged both Weasley parents.

"What's wrong, 'Mione?" Molly asked, hearing the distress in her daughter-in-law's voice.

"Rosie won't stop crying," Hermione replied. "I was suppose to feed her an hour ago, but she hasn't stopped crying long enough for me to feed her."

Looking down at the crying baby, Hermione started to pout. She hated the fact that she had to have her mother-in-law help her (only because she wanted to prove that she _could _take care of another baby) but if it meant that Rosie would stop crying, than she was willing to accept the help.

"Let me see her, dear," Molly said with a soft chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" Hermione asked as she handed the baby over to Molly.

Hearing a soft whimper leave Rose's mouth, Molly snuggled her granddaughter close to her body and started to rock her back and forth.

"Because you're not usually one to accept help," she replied as she turned her attention back to Hermione and smiled.

"I know, I know," Hermione replied sheepishly. "But you can't learn how to keep a baby quiet from a book."

Hearing Hermione's response, both Arthur and Molly laugh. "You are right about that one, my dear," Arthur laughed as he thought back to when his own kids where Rose's age. He missed when they where little because back then, he was able to get the affection only a child could give.

While Arthur continued to think about his kids, Molly started to walk around the room, in attempt to quiet the screaming baby down. Being the stubborn baby that she was, though, she didn't stop crying (which wasn't surprising considering she was Ron's child).

"You know, she's really cute," Hermione noted, pulling Arthur out of his thoughts.

Looking at Hermione and then at his wife and granddaughter, Arthur smiled to himself. "I know, you did well, 'Mione," he said, his smile widening as he realized that Molly was talking to Rose softly.

"No," Hermione laughed. "Your wife."

"Oh," Arthur replied sheepishly. "Well, she is in her comfort zone," he added as he turned his attention back to Hermione.

"I can tell," Hermione uttered as she smiled up at Arthur and then looked over at Molly, who was still trying to comfort Rose.

Noticing Hermione's longing stare, Arthur decided to say something. "What's wrong, 'Mione?" he asked as he wrapped his arm around his daughter-in-law (in a fatherly way, of course).

"I suppose I was hoping that being a mother came as naturally to me as it does for her," Hermione sighed, surprise evident in her voice. She couldn't believe that she was admitting her true feelings.

"Hermione Jean Weasley, you're an amazing mother!" Arthur chided, surprise also evident in his voice.

"I'm not as good of a mother as her," Hermione replied as she looked up at Arthur and nodded her heads towards Molly. Hearing a change in Rose's volume, she added, "See what I mean. She's _already _calmed Rose down."

"That doesn't mean anything," Arthur replied as he moved his arm from Hermione's shoulders. "Watch her, all she's doing is talking softly to Rose," he added as he looked at Molly and watched her sit down on the couch.

Also watching Molly, Hermione noticed that she really_ was _just talking softly.

While Arthur and Hermione continued to watch Molly calm the crying Rose, Ron walked into the room.

"How'd I know she was here?" he asked, much to Hermione's dismay.

"Ronald, that wasn't necessary," Arthur chided. Giving Arthur a quizzical look, Ron looked over at Hermione and noticed the hurt expression written across her face.

"Sorry 'Mione," he said as he walked over to Hermione and attempted to give her a hug.

When she didn't let him hug her, Arthur said "Go talk to your mother, Ron."

Ron immediately followed his father's orders. He knew if he stayed, all hell would break lose.

"Is everything alright over there?" Molly asked when she felt Ron sit down on the couch.

"I think I hurt 'Mione's feelings," Ron replied, guilt evident in his voice.

Wrapping her arm around Ron's shoulders, Molly pulled her son into a side-hug. "It's not all your fault, love," she said as she kissed Ron's cheek. "Her hormones are still acting up."

"Mum, it's been three weeks since she gave birth," Ron whined. He didn't mean to whine, but he hated how Hermione treated him.

"Every woman is different," Molly replied. "And every pregnancy is different, also," she added when she noticed the uncertain look on Ron's face.

"How do you know, Mum?" Ron asked, oblivious to the fact that his mum had endured six pregnancies.

"Well," Molly said. "With you, it took me two weeks to get back to normal but with the twins, it took me about a month and a half."

"Will it last for very much longer?" Ron sighed as he rested his head in the crook of Molly's neck, giving up on trying to figure everything out.

"I don't think so," Molly replied as she Accioed Rose's bottle. Once it was in her hand, she poked it through Rose's tiny lips and watched her softly suckled.

"I dunno how you do it," Ron noted after a few minutes of silence.

"Do what?" Molly asked as she looked down at her son, who was happily gazing at his daughter.

"Manage to quiet a crying baby when her parents had been trying to do it for an hour," Ron replied as he softly rubbed Rose's cheek with his finger.

"I've had seven kids, love," Molly laughed.

"No, you just have the arms of a mother," Ron replied as he looked up at his mum and kissed her cheek. Even though Molly had heard Hermione say that exact phrase, she still didn't believe it.

But really, Molly did have the arms of a mother

Because a mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.


	4. James

Sitting contently in her lawn chair, Molly carefully watched her grandson, James, as he played around in the enormous backyard that belonged to the Burrow. She couldn't have been any happier than she was at that moment. It was a beautiful day outside, she had one of her grandkids over _and _she got to spend time with her husband, though she wasn't quite sure where he was at the moment. She couldn't have asked for any better of a day.

Realizing that James was independently kicking his football around, Molly let herself fall into a light sleep, hoping that her grandson wouldn't get into any kind of trouble. But considering he was a Potter _and _a Weasley, she seriously doubted it.

Not long after Molly fell asleep did James get bored of kicking his football around. He wondered to the side of the Burrow, where Arthur's muggle shed was. He had never been to this part of the Burrow, as his grandmother had never let him (she didn't want him to wonder into Arthur's muggle shed, in case he where to hurt himself).

Hearing a loud _BOOM _come from inside the tiny shed, James started to run as fast as his little legs would let him, almost immediately turning the corner he had just taken to get to where he was standing.

Running towards his grandmother, James let out a sigh of relief. He was happy to see Molly, as he had no idea what the loud noise had been.

Jumping into Molly's lap, he wrapped his arms around her neck, giving her a big bear hug.

Feeling James jump into her lap, Molly immediately woke up. "James?" she said groggily. "What's wrong, darling?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around her grandson.

"There was a loud noise, Nana," James stuttered as he nuzzled Molly's chest.

"What kind of loud noise?" Molly asked as she kissed James's head reassuringly.

"I dunno, it kinda sounded like…" James paused for a second, trying to think of a way to explain the noise. "_BOOM_," he finished. Molly knew what James was talking about. From the way he described the noise, she figured he had wondered over to Arthur's shed.

"It was probably just Guppy playing with one of his muggle toys, dear," Molly said as she softly rubbed James's back.

Moving his head away from Molly's chest, James looked up at his grandmother. "Guppy plays with muggle toys?" he asked curiously, surprise evident in his voice.

"Mhm," Molly replied, not wanting to go into details about the muggle "toys" (as she didn't want to get him obsessed).

"That's cool," James said, amazed at the fact that his grandfather played with muggle toys.

"Is it?" Molly chucked as she gazed down at James lovingly.

"Mhm," James sighed as he rested his head against his grandmother's chest.

As silence fell over both grandmother and grandson, James decided to lift his head up again and look at Molly. "You remind me of my mummy, Nana," he said with a soft smile.

"Oh," Molly laughed. "Why is that?" she asked, suspicion written across her face. She could already tell that he was going to say that she looked like Ginny.

"Well," James said. "You kinda look like her, you're nice and when you give me a hug, you make me feel safe, just like she does."

Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Molly pulled James in for a hug. She would have never expected him to say such a thing.

Seeing Molly start to cry, James frowned. He didn't want to make his grandmother cry. "I'm sorry, Nana," he said as he gave Molly a reassuring hug. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"I'm not crying because you made me sad, darling," Molly laughed. "I'm crying because you made me happy," she added as James gave her a curious look.

"Oh," James replied as a smile appeared on his face. "I love you, Nana," he added as he, once again, rested his head on Molly's chest.

"I love you too," Molly replied happily as she kissed James's head.

It wasn't often that Molly was able to say she had 'the arms of a mother,' but it was times like these that made her proud to have them.


	5. Victoire

Walking around the large house that belonged to her grandparents, Victoire made her way into the living room, where she knew her mum and grandmum were. Her father and grandfather had been talking about someone that frightened her and she didn't want to hear about him anymore. But when she looked around the familiar room, she noticed that her mum wasn't there.

"Gram-Gram?" she asked as she looked over at her grandmother. "Where did Mummy go?

"She went home to put Louis to bed, dear," Molly said as she looked up from her knitting needles and softly smiled at her oldest granddaughter. "Is everything alright?" she asked when she noticed the frightened look on Victoire's face.

"I'm scared," she said as she slowly started to make her way towards her grandmother. "Daddy and Guppy were talking about someone scary," she explained after she pulled herself up into Molly's lap. Victoire was a lot like her father. She was really talkative, leading people to believe that she was going to be a high academic achiever when she went to Hogwarts.

"Ohh," Molly said, knowing exactly who Arthur and Bill were talking about. "They shouldn't have been talking about him," she said, getting a nod of Victoire's head in response.

"He's scary," Victoire said as she moved the blanket Molly was knitting so it was resting against her body.

"I know he is, love," Molly said as she kissed Victorie's head. She then grabbed her wand from her pocket and set her knitting needles to knit by themselves.

Letting her thumb wonder to her mouth, Victoire cuddled into her grandmother and softly let out a sigh, obviously content with sitting in Molly's lap. "I love you, Gram-Gram," she said.

"I love you too," Molly replied as she looked down at her granddaughter lovingly.

Hearing footsteps approach the living room, Molly looked up to see her husband and eldest son watching her. They both smiled at her, obviously amazed at how easily she had gotten Victoire to settle down for the night.

"Everything alright?" Molly asked when she smiled back at the two men standing in front of her.

"Yeah," Bill said, also speaking for his father. "I can't believe you were able to get her to settle down so easily. I didn't hear her make a fuss," he said as he walked towards his mum.

"I'm sure if you hadn't scared the living daylights out of her it would have been different," Molly replied jokingly.

"Did we scare her?" Bill asked, obviously concerned about his daughter.

"She _is _your child," Molly replied. It was a known fact that Bill was frightened easily as a child.

"Bloody hell," he said as he softly rubbed his temple. "I feel horrible now."

"She'll be fine, love," Molly said as she let out a soft chuckle. "You always were," she added.

"Hermione and Ron were right," Bill said. "You really do have the arms of a mother."

Molly softly rolled her eyes. From that moment on, she started to believe that she really did have the 'arms of a mother.'

Because a mother's arms are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.


End file.
